Doctorweblog. About Health & Medicine

The human heart retains its priority among all the important organs of the human body because it is responsible for supplying blood to the entire human system, which is essential for the sustenance of our lives. Thus, it is of utmost importance that we should make every effort to familiarize ourselves with the heart and its functions.The human heart is a small muscular organ situated in the centre of the chest, a little to the left. In size, it is roughly the size of a clenched fist and weighs about 350 gms. Since it is such an important and delicate organ, it is protected by the chest bone (sternum) in front.Internally, the heart is divided into 4 chambers, and has four major valves. The upper two chambers are called the atria and the lower two, the ventricles. The right atrium receives impure or deoxygenated blood (blood which has been deprived of its oxygen content by the tissues) via veins from the entire body. This blood goes to the right ventricle which contracts and pumps it through the pulmonary arteries (blood vessels) connecting the heart to the lungs where it is oxygenated. The oxygenated or purified blood from the lungs goes to the left atrium via the pulmonary veins (the only veins in the human body to carry oxygenated blood) and into the left ventricle which contracts and pumps it with tremendous force throughout the body and supplies it to billions of tissues which make up the human body. This is how blood circulates in the human body.As the heart is continuously working, it also requires oxygen and nutrition which is transported by the blood. Hence, the heart has its own blood supply. Blood is supplied to the heart through vessels called coronary arteries. There are two coronary arteries, the right and the left. The left coronary artery further branches into the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) which descends down in front of the heart, and the left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) which encircles the heart from behind. The right coronary artery (RCA) supplies blood to the front and back of the right side of the heart. All these coronary arteries have connections between themselves. The heart is mostly made up of a strong muscle tissue called myocardium which works continuously like a tireless pump, day and night, throughout a man’s lifetime. It beats about 72 times a minute, and if we calculate the number of minutes in our lifetime, it amounts to about 2.5 billion beats in a person’s life-span of 70 years. It circulates about 7 litres of blood every minute, amounting to about 700 million litres of blood in a lifetime. During physical exercise and mental stress, this function can increase up to six-fold or even more; thus, making the heart the most efficient pump known to mankind. In spite of all the advances made in the field of science and medical technology, nobody has been able to artificially replicate such a pump.The main function of the heart is to supply blood and essential nutrients to the whole body. Besides supplying blood, oxygen and nutrition to all parts of the body, the circulatory system also regulates the body’s internal temperature, distributes hormones and removes the harmful by-products of metabolism, including a host of other functions.
Functions of the heart- Supplying blood to the entire body.- Supplying oxygen and calorie nutrients (digested food particles that we eat) to the whole body and to billions of cells in the body.- Supplying vitamins and minerals to cells of the body, without which they cannot survive.- Carrying or pulling blood back to the heart and sending the same to the lungs for a refill of oxygen.- Help in distribution of hormones, neuro-chemicals from one part of the body to another.- Help taking the waste materials to the kidneys for purification of the blood. (The kidneys extract waste from the blood).*4/283/5*

Doctors can quickly assess the heart rate and rhythm by feeling (palpating) the pulse at the wrist, the carotid arteries in the neck, or the femoral arteries in the groin. Doctors can also tell whether  the pulse is regular, has skipped or extra beats , or is irregular, as in atrial fibrillation.
Health professionals usually count the pulse for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4 (4 x 15 seconds = 1 minute) to calculate the heart rate in beats per minute. A thorough examination includes palpation of the pulses at both wrists, the pulses at the inner part of both elbows (brachial pulse), the carotid pulses in the neck, the aortic pulse in “the” abdomen, the femoral pulses in the groin, the popliteal pulse behind each knee, the dorsalis pedis pulse on the topof the foot and the posterior tibialis pulse (on the inside of each leg, next to the ankle).
An absent or reduced pulse at any of these sites may indicate a blockage upstream from that site.
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Family Medical History
Your family medical history is useful for determining possible hereditary aspects of disease or identifying risk factors. For example, if a close family member had a heart attack at a young age, you may have a higher risk of coronary artery disease.
Make a list of any chronic diseases affecting your parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and children.
Social History
Your social history includes information about your life-style or living habits that may have an impact on disease, such as smoking and alcohol use, recreational activities that may influence general fitness, or job-related factors such as toxic exposures.
Review of Organ Systems
Your doctor will review potential symptoms related to each organ system during the medical interview. This review is a checklist for you and the doctor to go through to make sure that nothing is overlooked. For example, someone who complains of chest pain may neglect to mention that he or she experiences calf tiredness when walking a short distance. This information is important to the doctor, because both chest pain and calf discomfort or tiredness can be related to blockage in the coronary and leg arteries, respectively. Items such as this should be brought out during the course systematically reviewing other systems.
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Family Medical History
Your family medical history is useful for determining possible hereditary aspects of disease or identifying risk factors. For example, if a close family member had a heart attack at a young age, you may have a higher risk of coronary artery disease.
Make a list of any chronic diseases affecting your parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and children.
Social History
Your social history includes information about your life-style or living habits that may have an impact on disease, such as smoking and alcohol use, recreational activities that may influence general fitness, or job-related factors such as toxic exposures.
Review of Organ Systems
Your doctor will review potential symptoms related to each organ system during the medical interview. This review is a checklist for you and the doctor to go through to make sure that nothing is overlooked. For example, someone who complains of chest pain may neglect to mention that he or she experiences calf tiredness when walking a short distance. This information is important to the doctor, because both chest pain and calf discomfort or tiredness can be related to blockage in the coronary and leg arteries, respectively. Items such as this should be brought out during the course systematically reviewing other systems.
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